The Art of Avoiding Bears: a Saviour's Guide
by stopalltheclocks-x
Summary: "You're Henry's family and that makes you my family. You'll always have us."- When Emma invites Regina to go camping for the Christmas holidays, falling in love was never supposed to be a part of the plan.
1. Step 1: Happy Campers

**A/N: Hello! This is my first published SQ fanfiction. I really hope you enjoy it! Just so you know, this ignores OQ/CS and the Frozen arc.**

* * *

><p>You<em> are the snow storm,<em>

_I'm purified,_

_the darkest fairytale,_

_in the dead of night._

_-Salvation, Gabrielle Aplin_

* * *

><p><strong>The Art of Avoiding Bears: A Saviour's Guide<strong>

**The first step of surviving the wildness is knowing how to keep your fellow campers happy.**

**1. DO NOT, under any circumstance, make putting up the tents into a competition. Especially when the person you're challenging is a former evil queen.**

**-By Emma Swan**

* * *

><p>"You <em>can't <em>be serious." Regina huffed before throwing down her rucksack onto the grass in disgust.

Emma rolled her eyes as she stuffed a large chunk of bear claw into her mouth, eyeing the intruction manual carefully. Her patience, which was often short when it came to Regina, was wearing exceptionally thin. The woman had done nothing but complain so far and Emma was beginning to wish she hadn't invited her along. First, it was the way she kept fidgeting on the plane (she didn't _like _flying_, _ok?) and now this.

"_You _can't be serious. What, did you think this thing would put itself up?" she hissed at the brunette, a spray of crumbs exploding from her mouth.

Regina's lip curled in distaste. "Don't be ridiculous. When you said camping I assumed you meant we'd be stopping in a hotel near some forest, or even a caravan, but-"

"I meant actual camping with real tents, yup." She confirmed, popping the 'p'.

_Of course, _Emma thought, she should have known that staying in a tent would be beneath the prim and proper former queen. When they were in New York camping had become a Christmas tradition with Henry and they'd both loved it so much that Emma had been loathe to break it, so this year she'd found herself inviting her parents to join them on Christmas day and asking Regina to come for the entire trip. Henry had been ecstatic but, in spite of the odd sort of friendship they struck up since Zelena's defeat, Emma was still torn between wanting to hug and hit Regina most of the time.

"You're just getting your knickers in a twist," Emma continued, "because _I _know how to do something that _you _don't."

Regina quirked at brow at this. "And how difficult can it be if the likes of _you _can manage it?"

Emma chuckled as she said, "If it's so easy, then when why don't we make this into a challenge? The last one to put their tent up will be at the beck and call of the other all week, no matter how stupid the request is."

Regina chewed on the offer for half a second before saying, "You have yourself a deal, Miss Swan." There was no way she could lose something as simple as this against Snow White's spawn.

Emma hid a smirk. She knew there was no way Regina could resist and offer like that. But there was no way she was winning this one. She couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she lost.

"Kid, get over here!" She beckoned over their son, who'd been hovering by the lake with a stick in hand. Emma expected he'd been imaging sparks flying out the end, given his recent obession with all things Harry Potter.

"What is it, ma?" He asked.

"Your mom and I are having a little competition, so do you think you'll be ok putting up your own tent?"

"Sure, but..." he glanced between them warily, all too aware of how his mothers' little 'competitions' usually ended, which was generally with shouting and Emma ducking fireballs. "You two aren't gonna start fighting are you? We're on holiday."

"Of course not, dear," Regina reassured him. "I'll have won this within ten minutes and then we can get back to enjoying this vacation."

Henry continued to look uncertain, but when he caught the look that passed between his mothers he knew there was no point arguing. He sighed; adults were so weird sometimes.

"Ok," Emma began. "Henry, you can be the judge. You can put the tent up in any way you want, but it has to at least resemble a tent and it has to be sturdy. And no magic!" She pointed an accusing finger at the brunette. Regina swatted the hand away like a fly.

"I don't need magic to win this."

"We'll see." Emma flashed her a grin and Regina had to resist the urge to curse her stupid face.

"Let's just get this over with."

* * *

><p>Over an hour later, Emma and Henry were cackling by the fire like a pair of witches as Regina emerged on all fours from a pile of fabric that collapsed on her. She dragged herself to her feet, smoothing down the front of her dress as she cursed the name of Emma Swan. What had she been thinking when she'd agreed to this? She hadn't signed up for sleeping in a tent in the middle of no where, only having wanted to spend the Christmas holidays with her son.<p>

"Man, I wish I had my camera right now," Emma guffawed, clutching her stomach.

"I've got my mobile," Henry offered the darn device to Emma and she flipped it open and snapped a picture of scowling former queen, chuckling to herself.

"Mom, I can help you, but I can't believe you can't figure out how to put up a tent." Henry trotted over and threw his arm around her shoulders (the kid was 14, when he'd gotten big enough to do that Regina didn't know). Regina stiffened before relaxing into his embrace. She smiled softly and kissed his cheek.

"Mooom," he whined without moving away, smiling at her as she wiped his face which now had a scarlet lip mark on it.

_This _was why she had agreed to this nightmare of a holiday. For Henry, her little prince. After all those years of him running away from her and rejecting her, it still took her by surprise how careless he was with shows of affection now and Regina intended to make the most of it. A part of her knew they were both acting out of guilt to make up for those lost years, but that didn't stop the warm feeling that enveloped her heart whenever Henry was in her arms.

"That's ok, dear. I'm nearly done." She said with a ruffle of his hair.

Henry just grinned and ran back over to Emma. The blonde nudged him and laughed as she asked, "Sure looks like it, huh kid?"

"Yup. I guess queens don't use tents," He nodded, popping his 'P's the same way as his birth mom. "Come on mom, just let Emma do it so we can eat dinner."

"Absolutely not." She spat.

"Mom, I'm the judge and ma won fair and square. Just give up and let one of us do it."

Emma laughed as she went over and tapped the collapsed tent with her foor. She clapped Regina on the shoulder and tried to throw an arm around her like Henry had done, but the brunette jabbed her in the ribs.

"You cheated!" Regina hissed.

"What?" Emma spluttered. "How can I cheat putting up a _tent?" _She crooked her finger at Henry to beckon him over. "I know why you're such a sore loser now, Henry, you got it from miss 'you cheated' over here."

"You had an unfair advantage. I've never done this before." Regina insisted, dropping to her knees. She started hammering a nail into the ground again, determindely ignoring her son and the idiot chuckling at her.

"Uh, mom, you said it must be easy if ma can do it," Henry suddenly chimed in, apparently thinking he was helping.

_Traiterous little so-and-so, _Regina thought.

Emma patted his shoulder. "See, Regina, the kid's on my side."

"I'm not on anyone's side," Henry said with a guilty expression as he chewed on his lip.

Emma grinned and they winked at each other, an exchange that didn't go unnoticed by Regina. "Ok, well, I'll leave you to it. I was gonna ask you to make dinner as my first request, but I'll do that while you finish with your tent. Do you like sausages?"

"I'd rather starve than eat anything you cook." Regina seethed.

The blonde's smile dissolved and her eyes hardened. "Then starve."

* * *

><p>Stars were spangled across the night sky like someone had grabbed a handful and scattered them across a strip of black velvet. Regina's breath froze in the bitter air and the trees shuddered as the wind billowed through them. She had long given up with her tent (while insisting to Emma she knew what she was doing now and that she would do it later) to join Emma and Henry telling ghost stories as the hour latened. She inched closer to the fire, holding tightly to her coat. In hindsight, she wished she'd have brought something warmer with her like Emma and Henry who were bundled up in countless layers, but as it was this would have to do.<p>

"I'm getting tired, maybe we should have an early night," Emma suggested through a yawn.

Henry nodded. "Yup. Then we can get up early tomorrow!"

He struggled to his feet, planted a sloppy kiss on Emma's cheek then waddled over to Regina, looking like an giant fat penguin in his endless layers. Regina smiled softly and placed a gloved hand against his cold cheek. "Good night, dear. I love you so much."

Henry rolled his eyes, but replied, "I love you too, mom."

Emma watched him crawl into his tent then offered Regina a tentative smile.

"I..." she began, looking up at the sky. Emma had always loved the stars as a child; they made her think of the endless possibilities in the universe and reminded her that even though she didn't have a family, that wasn't just it for her and maybe the universe did have a home for her somewhere out there. All those feelings bubbled rapidly to the surface again now as she looked at Regina. Dysfunctional as their relationship was, Regina was a part of what gave home its name. "I never went camping as a child."

Regina's brows furrowed. "Emma," she said quietly. "Why are you telling me this? I'm not exactly fond of the great outdoors, but that's not your fault. I'm...Henry took your side earlier."

"Is that was this is about?" Emma asked increduously, padding around the fire to sit next to Regina. She wrapped her hand around Regina's wrist gently and forced her to look at her. "Henry _loves _you."

"Just not as much as he loves you." the brunette whispered, her words crackling along with the roar of the fire.

Emma rubbed her thumb back and forth over the inside of Regina's wrist as she forced as much emotion as she could into her voice. "No, listen to me. He loves you as much as he loves me. Hell, he practically worships you. Your his mom_. _The person who taught him how to ride a bike and hugged him when he had a bad dream. I adore that kid more than anything, but at the end of his day I'm the woman who gave him up then waltzed back into his life when he was going though a rough patch. And yeah, he loves me for that, but you'll always be his mommy. You raised him.

"He's _our _son," Regina stated firmly as her heart swelled and leapt into her throat. "I'm just so sorry. For how I treated him."

Emma dropped her hand and let out a puff of breath that came out as a burst of white fog. "He knows that. And so do I. We both forgive you. Look, I know we fight a lot, but you're my friend, Regina, and like it or not, I care about you. You're Henry's family and that makes you my family. You'll always have us. Henry will never have to choose again and if he had to, well, I think that's one competition I'd lose." Her voice cracked a little as it caught in her throat like a zip, but she pushed through. She had to say this; _wanted _to say this. This was the real reason she'd invited her to spend Christmas with them. Regina was there, but always on the precipice, like that one kid who was on the outside watching another family eat dinner together.

Emma knew exactly how it felt to be that kid and didn't want the brunette to feel like that. _Ever. _So she'd invited her camping. And, in all honestly, she liked having Regina around. She liked having someone to exchange easy banter with her. When they weren't really arguing, they just seemed to click. They got each other and damn it if that wasn't rare.

Regina's own face was streaked with tears and she was thankful they were lost in the darkness. She looked into the blonde's sincere green eyes, feeling her words in every cell of her body. She'd needed to hear this, that Henry really did love her, that she belonged. And not only to Henry, but to Emma. It was something that continued to plague her even now she had every reason to be happy, the shadow lurking in the back of her mind and waiting to envelop her.

"I'm sorry," Regina choked out. "For earlier. I shouldn't speak to you like that. I'm not accostmed to losing."

Emma grinned, playfully bumping the other woman's shoulder. "It's ok. I'm used to it. I'm sorry I thought camping was a good idea. I knew you'd hate it, but, well, like I said, I never got to go as a kid. When I was in the system, I lived with this one family who didn't have much money, but they always promised to take me camping someday. But then they had their own kid and they sent me back, so I never got the chance to go."

Regina took this in, her eyes locked on Emma's. For the first time, she truly understood why Emma had given Henry up; she'd wanted him to experience all the things she never did.

"We can check in a hotel tomorrow morning, if you want."

"No...It's ok, Emma." She told her softly. "Thank you for inviting me. I think i'll enjoy camping after all. I might need some help with the tent though." She confessed through a watery laugh.

Emma chuckled at this, her thick coat rustling as she shifted from side to side. "It's too dark now, but I'll do it in the morning. For now you'll have to share my tent. It won't be very comfortable with the two of us, but you'll freeze out here. I don't wanna have to explain to Henry why his mom has turned into a block of ice tomorrow."

Regina nodded, placing her hand on Emma's knee. The other woman stared at it blankly for a moment before covering it with her own, entwining their fingers. It wasn't supossed to be romantic, simply a moment of silent companionship, but a shiver siezed Regina's body as she leaned closer to the sheriff. She wondered if Emma felt the strange connection too.

"Thank you, for what you said. I'm...you'll always have us too, me and Henry."

A rebellious tear leaked from the corner of Emma's eyes and she swiped it away with the back of her hand. When had this conversation gotten so heavy and when did she _cry?_ She figured the cold must be getting to her. "I know."

They stared at each for a long moment, chocolate eyes locked on green, before Emma cleared her throat. "Uh, we should probably go to bed. Henry's gonna wake us up at the crack of dawn to go bear hunting."

Regina made a face.

"Don't ask." She said with a laugh.

The brunette smiled and rumaged around through her rucksack, eventually pulling out a dark green sleeping bag. "You better stay on your side of the tent."

"I can't make any promises. Everyone tells me I wriggle like a snake."

Regina rolled her eyes, clambering in with a quick glance back at Emma. "Goodnight, dear."

"Yeah. Good night, Regina." She said softly, crawling in after her.

And although they would each claim it was the other's fault when Henry burst in on them the next morning, neither of them particularly minded when they fell asleep holing hands.

* * *

><p><strong>The Art of Avoiding Bears: A Saviour's Guide<strong>

**2. DO offer your friendship and reassurance when being in the wilderness becomes too much for your fellow camper.**

**-By Emma Swan**


	2. Bear Hunting

_I've found a reason to show  
>A side of me you didn't know<br>A reason for all that I do  
>And the reason is you<em>

_-the Reason, Hoobastank_

* * *

><p><strong>The Art of Avoiding Bears: a Saviour's Guide<strong>

**The great out doors can be a dangerous place and one should always be prepared to deal with injuries ranging from a scrape to loss of limb.**

**3. DO NOT forget to take a first aid kit.**

**-By Emma Swan**

It was early in the morning and Regina found herself drifting away from the tent to the water's edge.

The sky was a blanket of unforgiving white, stretching over the world like the frothy head of a beer. In the distance, the snow-capped mountains strained to reach the sky, looking somewhat mournful in their vastness. A glittering sheet of ice convered the lake and the world was quiet, almost eerily so, save for the shrill shrieks of Emma and Henry shouting nonsense spells at each other whilst battling with sticks.

Regina knew how to be a mother, but she didn't know how to do whatever _that _was. She couldn't remember the last time _she'd _made Henry laugh like that and it seemed an impossible task when she'd forgotten what it felt like to laugh herself. Smiles and fun came easily to the blonde, but all Regina had was her sarcasm and a knack for destroying people's happiness.

How was she supposed to make her 14 year old son smile?

In truth, she felt embarrassed and more than a little insecure. Last night had shaken her and this morning when she'd woken up things felt somehow different with Emma, almost as if they were meeting for the first time. They'd always had a difficult relationship, but the push and pull, the tit for tat, was what had made it easy. Now it was _different. _Like they were teetering over the edge of a cliff and staring into the void. And Regina didn't know what to make of it.

She wasn't accostemed to being so open with her feelings, but it didn't feel wrong. And that was what terrified Regina the most. She could feels her walls crumbling down, brick by brick as the blonde continued to hammer at them with vigour and fire. Perhaps this trip really had been a terrible idea.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Emma murmured in her ear, startling her. The brunette hadn't even heard her approach.

The blonde was all woolen jumpers and a mess of curls, her cheeks flushed crimson from the wind.

"It's acceptable." Regina said flippantly, blowing heat on her hands as she rubbed them together.

"You're cold."

"I'll be fine." She snapped.

There was a moment of silence and then Emma was pressing something warm into her hands. "Here, they're sheepskin. They should keep you warm."

Regina glared down at the gloves as though Emma had handed her a bomb. "I don't need them."

"Thanks Emma, that's really nice of you, but won't your hands get cold?" Emma muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Just wear the gloves."

"No."

"Dammit, Regina!" The blonde exploded, running her hands through her hair in frustration. "Why do you always have to be so difficult?"

"I'm not cold." She insisted, even as a shiver siezed her traiterous body.

"Look, they're just gloves," Emma said with a sigh. "I'm not asking you trade your soul or whatever crazy shit you did in the Enchanted Forest. I just don't want you getting frostbite. I have two pairs."

This was bigger than just a pair of gloves and Emma knew it. She should have expected Regina to go all weird on her after revealing so much of her vulnerabilities last night. The woman's natural instinct was to push people away, but damn if this wasn't hard for Emma too; _her _natural instinct was to run away from people, even Henry at times and _especially _whatever this crazy friendship with Regina was.

"Fine."

"Fine what?"

"I'll wear them," Regina almost shouted, jamming the gloves onto her hands with a thunderous expression.

Emma smirked, a delicious thrill setting her nerves alight. There was something satisfying about getting the brunette to do what she wanted. "Do you want to borrow some shoes too?"

The look Regina gave her was worthy of medusa. "I'd rather walk around barefoot than be seen in those monstrosoties you call shoes."

Emma shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you'll wish you'd have borrowed these monstrosoties later when you break your neck because you were the only person dumb enough to come camping in heels."

The way Regina's face contorted into a ferocious snarl reminded Emma of a bear that had finally been provoked too much, but luckily Henry chose that moment to scamper over to them so she avoided getting bitten. Regina shot her a filthy look before her face slipped into a soft smile.

Yeah, she'd avoided getting bitten. _For now._

"What are you two doing? Come on, let's go bear hunting!"

"Bear hunting, dear?"

"Yup," Henry nodded enthusiastically. "Me and ma always go and we've not found one yet, but this is the year. Do you think you could track one using magic?"

"Well, yes, of course, but couldn't Emma have done that?"

Henry rolled his eyes and cast the blonde an exasperated glance. "Ma sucks at magic."

Regina smirked evilly. "Does she now?"

"I do not not!" Emma protested, crossing her arms across her chest. "It works when I need it to."

"Yeah, when someone's dying or you wake up hungry in the middle of the night and decide you want a bear claw." Henry muttered, giving her a scathing look that was all Regina.

"Henry!" a blush rose to her cheeks and she stuck out her bottom lip like a petulant child. "Keep this up kid and I might accidently lose you in the forest."

Henry stuck out his tongue, which was, Regina noted, something he must have picked up from his birth mom. The poor boy had ended up with a real mix of attributes; he had Regina's snark, Emma's immaturity and an empathetic heart. The last one, though, Regina had no idea where it had come from. It certainly wasn't either of his mothers.

"Don't worry, dear. I already knew you were a glutton." Regina told her with a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah well at least I'm not a-"

"Look," Henry yelled suddenly, thankfully interrupting whatever it was Emma's mouth had been about to blurt out before her mind caught up with her, "It's snowing!"

They looked up at the sky and, sure enough, the snow flakes were tumbling down like someone had started to sprinkle icing sugar over the world. Henry was wearing the biggest grin as he flung an arm around both their waists and crushed the three of them together until they resembled a huddle of penguins.

"I'm so glad you're with us, mom. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever." He stated as though it was a foregone fact.

Maybe it was.

Emma's hand found Regina's splayed over Henry's back. She stroked the back of it with her thumb. The brunette let out a small puff of surprise, but made no move to pull away. Their eyes met over Henry's head.

"Yes, I think it is." Regina whispered.

* * *

><p>As it turned out<strong>, <strong>bear hunting consisted trekking through a forest with chunks of meat in plastic bags and Henry making bear noises which sounded more like a dying whale. Regina was from the Enchanted Forest, but this was easily up there with the weirdest thing she'd ever done, therapy with a cricket turned human aside. On top of it all, the snow was falling thick and heavy and Regina's patience was wearing thin.

Henry was a few metres ahead, a stick swinging in his hand and Emma was appraising a stoic Regina through the corner of her eye. She leaned in conspiratorily and stage whispered in Regina's ear, "You know, he wouldn't hug us and pretend he had a wand if Grace was here."

In front of her, Henry tensed, but continued to walk.

"And Grace is?"

"His _girlfriend."_

"She's not my girlfriend!" Henry's spine straightened as he whipped around, flushing as bright as a beetroot. "We're just friends."

"A friend he kisses outside the school gates when he thinks no one is looking." Emma supplied helpfully, an evil grin on her face.

Regina stopped walking.

"You're too young to be kissing anyone."

Henry groaned. "Mom, I'm nearly 15."

"Ha!" yelled Emma triumphantly. "So you admit it then?"

"You kissed that pirate!" Henry blurted out.

It was Emma's turn to blush.

"You kissed _Hook?"_ the brunette alleged, her brown eyes narrowing into slits. "He wears more makeup than miss Lucas."

"It was a one off."

The eyebrow raised at that comment was slow and deliberate, and simply dripping with attitude. "Perhaps Henry's kiss with Grace was a one off."

_Damn._

What chance did Emma stand, really? Of course Regina would never gang up on Henry. Hell, Regina would probably still take Henry's side if he'd been caught going at it doggy style with Granny. God, that was a thought she didn't want. And Henry could keep a secret about as well as she could, meaning he couldn't.

"Yeah," Henry agreed readily. "But Grace isn't my girlfriend."

"I believe you, dear. But if she _is_ you're welcome to bring her over for dinner."

Emma burst out laughing. The brunette shot her a glare that was as delicious as sin.

"What's so funny, miss Swan?"

"Just the idea of Henry bringing Grace to your house for dinner. You're not, exactly, well-"

"Are you sure want to finish that sentence?"

"-cool."

And then all hell broke lose. In their bickering, neither of them had noticed Henry gathering up a handful of snow. He formed a snow ball and, sniggering, propelled it towards his birth mom's head, where it exploded against the back of her head with a satisfying _thwack._

"Oops, my hand slipped." Henry drawled.

_Sarcastic little bastard, _Emma thought as she rubbed her head, her mouth forming a large 'o' shape. The cold dripping down her neck stung like a bitch and Henry just stood there cackling like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. She'd be having words with Regina later about teaching the kid to play dirty like that, but that was if she didn't kill him first.

"Henry," Regina chastised under her breath, giving him _the _look. "You should have aimed at her face."

Henry grinned and bound over, high fiving his mother as they shared a cruel grin.

And as the pair of them continued to laugh, Emma ducked to the ground slowly and cupped as much snow as she could carry in her hands. When she looked back on the moment, she had no idea what made her do it- a death wish, Regina would say- but right now it seemed like the only idea. She trotted over to them, feigning anger, the snow in her hands behind her back and stopped right before them before crushing the snow into not only Henry's face, but Regina's too. "_That's_ how you aim properly."

Emma had experienced her fair share of fear between being a bail bonds woman and fighting crazed fairytale characters, but nothing compared to icy stab of horror she felt as Regina brushed the snow away from her face and gave her a look that was pure evil queen. She gulped and backed away, stumbling over her own feet.

Henry gave his birth mom a small shove. "Ma, _run."_

When she spoke, Regina's voice was an arctic wind. "Yes dear, _run."_

And run she did, feeling like much like a rabbit evading a hunt. Her feet sank into the snow as she chanced a look back, running made even more difficult because of the hill. The brunette was hot on her tails, eyes glowing purple with magic and a snow ball that was growing rapidly in size trailing behind her. Henry was jogging beside her, struggling to breath from laughing so much.

Of course, Emma's feet chose that moment to fail her. All she could think of as she fell to in the powdery snow was how she hated her dad for giving her the clumsy gene.

"I surrender!" The blonde shouted.

Naturally, Regina's grin only grew wider.

Emma closed her eyes and waited for her punishment, but it never came. A shriek escaped the brunette's lips and Emma opened her eyes in time to see Henry run over to try and catch his mom, but he was too late.

"Regina!" Emma scrambled to her feet as Regina slid back down the hill on her stomach until she crashed into a tree. If this had been anyone but Regina, Emma would have been howling at the almost cartoon like fall.

She exchanged a horrified look with Henry before they both hurtled after her.

"Mom, are you ok?" Henry knelt beside her cautiously. She couldn't blame the kid for looking scared. Emma was tempted to run in the opposite direction.

"Of course I am, dear, but miss Swan won't be." She growled.

Emma let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. If the woman could still make threats, she was fine. She chuckled wearily, the sound dying in her throat when Regina looked at her in disgust. She figured she really should know better than to laugh at the evil queen, of all people.

"Let me help you." Henry offered, but Regina batted away his hand.

She shuffled to a sitting position then pulled one leg underneath her, only to push herself up and fall straight back down again as she uttered a cry of pain. Her body sagged against the tree.

_Well crap._

"Uh, what's wrong?" Emma asked, tentatively falling to her knees beside her.

"I think my ankle is broken." The brunette grit out, biting her bottom lip.

Emma recognised the trait as a sign that Regina was in pain, but didn't want to show it. It was a trait so typically _her _that Emma almost smiled. The woman hated showing her emotions to anyone and last night had certainly proved that and she especially hated anyone seeing her vulnerable. Especially her son and her ex-enemy. It was something Emma could understand all too well. You couldn't show those sort of feelings in the system, not if you wanted to survive anyway. She remembered this one kid, Sally, who reminded her a lot of Mary Margaret with her smile and enthusiasm; the kid had been a target for bullies and for siblings who didn't want her there. Eventually she'd stopped smiling.

Regina's voice lulled her from her thoughts. "Give me the first aid kid."

_Super crap._

Emma shuffled from foot to foot, Henry and Regina both staring at her expectantly.

"Unless you have crabs, miss Swan, stop that and give me the first aid kit."

"I, uh, might have forgotten it." She admitted, shoving her hands into her pockets as she stared at the ground.

"Ma!" Henry exclaimed.

"Escuse me?" Regina said, her voice dangerously low. "I thought I heard you say you'd forgotten the first aid kit, but even you woudldn't be that stupid when we have our child with us."

Emma tilted her chin up, looking her in the eye. It's not like she'd done it deliberately. "Can't you just heal it with magic?"

The brunette sucked in a deep breath and Emma could practically see her counting to ten in her head. She wondered if that was something she'd learned from Archie in therapy.

"You know full well I don't possess healing magic."

"Well, you're gonna have to try because you heard right. I forgot the first aid kit."

Regina looked at her furiously. Sure, she'd had her moments in Storybrooke, but Emma had never understood the 'evil' tagged to her name. Until now. Now, it was obvious why she struck fear into the hearts of everyone.

Her eyes flashed purple. Henry stared between them, not sure how to diffuse the situation before it exploded. As it was, he nothing was coming to mind, so he chose to do what Emma did best: run.

"Mom, I'm gonna climb a bit higher and see if I can get a signal to call for help."

Even in her pain, Regina managed to conjure a worried look for her son. How anyone was that instinctively maternal, Emma would never understand. If she'd had Henry from birth the kid would probably have grown up playing in bewteen the traffic on the freeway. "Will you be able to find your way back?"

"Sure. It's stopped snowing, so I'll be able to follow my footprints. And even if I do get lost, I know my way back to the tent."

Regina continued to look worried, but gave him a slight nod. Henry scampered off and Emma looked carefully at Regina, bracing herself for the torrent of insults that were no doubt coming.

Instead, the infuriating woman refused to even look at her, instead glaring at the snow in a frosty silence.

_Great._

Emma sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

><p>The hours slipped by in silence, Emma only chancing the occasional coy glance at the brunette. Regina busied herself looking worriedly up at the sky. It had started snowing again and was a billowing grey, promising a storm. Henry's footprints had long been covered. He had no chance of tracing them back. Emma was herself agitated, but chose to show it by pacing up and down, her hands clasped behind her bag, calling out Henry's name everytime she heard a twig snap.<p>

"Will you stop that?" Regina hissed finally. It was the first time she'd spoken in hours and Emma felt a great sense of relief as she basked in the words. Even if it was only to chastise her, anything was better than this deafening silence as she became increasinly worried about Henry.

"I should have gone instead." She muttered.

"Yes, you should." Regina snapped.

Emma stopped her pacing with a sigh and walked over to the tree where she slid down besides Regina.

"I'm sorry." She said earnestly as the time stretched on and Regina showed no sign of relenting. "For Henry, for all of it."

"I don't care." The other woman spat, unmoved by apology.

Emma should have expected it, really. Regina accepted nothing less that begging on hands and knees and even then should would be lucky to be forgiven. "Would it help if I said I'm _really _sorry. Like this is the most sorry I've ever been. Well, apart from the time I-"

Regina silenced her a throaty growl. "Spare me, miss Swan. Henry is missing, I have a broken ankle and that is _your _fault. Now we're going to have to return home. Not only have you ruined my Christmas, but you've ruined Henry's and that, dear, is unforgiveable."

Anger erupted in Emma's own chest like a volcano. This wasn't her fault. Not completely anyway. "I told you not to wear those stupid heels! Seriously, who comes camping in heels anyway apart from royalty?" She smacked her forehead. "But oh wait, stupid me, you are the evil queen and you have to keep up appearances. Couldn't have people seeing you slum it with someone like me, could you?"

And then Regina exploded. It was almost a relief. The blonde had been expecting this from the moment she decided to shove snow in the woman's face. A part of her had _wanted _it.

"I came with you on this trip in spite of my better opinion and you _dare _to blame me for this? You're worse than your mother; you ruin everything you touch with your bullheadedness."

Well, Emma hadn't been expecting that. She stared at Regina, who looked unapologetic as sin. She pointed at herself and smiled hollowly.

"Yeah, that's me, isn't? Emma-can't-do-anything-right- Swan," She sighed. She'd had enough of Regina. Sure, she'd screwed up, but no sane person would blame her for them falling over. But then, when had Regina ever responded like a normal person? "All I wanted was for the kid to have a nice Christmas with _both _of his moms and I can't even give him that. It's no wonder my parents didn't want me."

Regina's eye brows shot up. "Don't be so melodramatic. That's hardly what I meant."

Emma stared at her incredulously. "No, I know exactly what you meant. Well you know what Regina, fuck you. _Fuck you. _I'm tired of your crap."

She hauled herself to her feet.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere that you aren't." Emma said spitefully.

"Some saviour you are," the brunette spat. "Running away like you always do."

Emma almost screamed in frustration as kicked the bark of the tree. She couldn't really leave Regina here in spite of the fact that at the moment she really didn't care if she froze. She flopped back down into the snow, trying to focus on Henry.

"Don't talk to me, ok?"

Regina harrumphed her agreement and Emma was just calming down when, minutes later, the silence was broken again.

"My mother always told me things get said in the heat of moment." The brunette murmured in a timid voice that was entirely out of character for her.

"Is that your idea of an apology?"

Regina scoffed. "No."

Silence.

"Perhaps."

An icy breeze blew through the air and they huddled closer, almost instinctively.

"Emma," She whispered, biting her lip. "I _am _sorry."

And she really was. As soon as she'd said those things to Emma, she was sorry. The blonde wasn't the only one who said things without thinking sometimes. Her stomach was churning guility. She wasn't that person anymore. She didn't want to treat anyone like that, especially not Emma, a woman she cared about more than she dared to admit to herself. She knew she needed to stop lashing out at people, but it was difficult to change the habit of a lifetime and she could only hope Emma understood that.

Emma surprised her by taking hold of one gloved hand and bringing it over to rest in her lap. "It's ok."

Regina could only stare at her.

"Well, it's not." She admitted. "But we're both worried about Henry. I'm sorry too."

"Don't be." Regina uttered softly, looking determindly at her feet. "You were only trying to have fun and I- I overreacted."

"You could say that again." Emma muttered.

Regina smiled faintly, digging the tips of her boots into the snow. "I suppose I could. Snow-" she frowned, "your mother loves you more than anything, don't ever doubt that, Emma. And you're a good mother to Henry. A little careless perhaps, but good nonetheless."

And then Emma was grinning, her bad mood gone as quickly as it had come. Only Regina could simutaneously compliment and insult her. It was trait she both admired and hated.

"I'm a good mother, eh?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Don't push your luck, dear."

Emma's grin grew and she started playing with the hand resting in her lap, half expecting Regina to yank it away. She didn't, though. She wondered if it would always be like this, if they'd have a raging argument then end up sat side by side holding hands. Emma sure hoped so. There was something nice about the way the woman's hand felt in hers, almost like it was supposed to be there.

"You know," Emma began, tracing the back of Regina's hand through her glove. "_I_ could try healing you with magic."

"You could." Regina agreed.

Emma smiled, reluctantly dropping the hand as she crawled around to Regina's front and carefully rolled up her trouser leg, concious of the wince it provoked. She tossed her gloves to one side.

"I'll be gentle."

"You better be."

She grasped the ankle gently in her hands, stroking the smooth skin. "What do I do?"

"Close your eyes." Regina commanded. "Good, now listen to what is around you, feel beyond yourself and tap into your magic. It's inside you, Emma. You just need to feel it."

Emma listened to the mournful howl of the wind and the leaves exchanging dark whispers; she listened to the screaming crows and to the sound of her own breathing; and she listened to Regina's shallow breaths and the way they came out in small puffs.

"I- I feel it." She gasped.

"Excellent." Regina praised, her eyes half closed. "Now imagine it moving through your body and leaving your fingertips. Guide it, Emma, and then focus on what you want to, but nothing else."

Emma could feel a warmth pulsing through her as solidly as her heartbeat. It felt different to when she used magic before. Magic required a certain state of mind, but she'd never actually felt her own magic inside of her until now. This felt strange and powerful and everything she'd imagined it to be and more. For the first time, she understood how Regina had been made a slave to her magic. It would be all too easy to be seduced by this feeling. This was thrilling; this was _ecstacy._

And then there was Regina. The other woman's skin scalded her palm, setting every nerve in her body alight. She could _hear _the brunette's heartbeat thumping away inside of her chest as Emma's hands moved rythmically over her ankle.

"Heal me, Emma." Regina murmured throatily, throwing her head back. "You can do this. I trust you."

Emma concentrated as a pearly white substance spilled from her fingertrips and entwined around Regina's swollen ankle. They both opened their eyes and watched in awe as it continued to hover for several minutes before diffusing into the crisp air.

"It's- did it work?" Emma asked shakily. A tremble gripped her body and she suddenly felt freezing. She pulled her coat tighter around her. She was surprised when Regina's hand cupped her face and tilted her head upwards.

"Breathe, Emma. Healing magic requires a lot of energy."

The blonde swallowed and nodded, counting her breaths as her heartbeat returned to normal. Regina offered no words of comfort, but somehow just her presence was enough to calm Emma down.

"You did it." Regina smiled at her, wiggling her foot, and it was the first genuine smile Emma had seen her display so far. "Thank you."

Emma chuckled. "You're welcome. It was all my fault after all."

Regina rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.

The blonde bit her lip and extended a hand to Regina's face.

The brunette froze, the smile slipping from her face into a more serious expression than Emma had ever seen her wear.

"You've got snow in your hair." Emma told her softly, brushing her fingers through the dark locks. Regina leaned into her touch.

Electricity crackled in the air between them and they both moved forward at the same time.

Emma's eyes were drawn to Regina's lips as she flicked out a tongue and licked them. Emma parted her lips and moved even closer-

"Mom! Ma!" A voice called.

_Henry._

"Henry!" Regina shouted instantly, springing away from Emma. She stood up- thankfully- with ease, as graceful as ever.

"Sorry, I got a signal and managed to get the ranger for this area to come and find me," he gestured to the disgruntled man behind him. "but we got a bit lost on the way back."

"That's ok, I'm just glad your safe." Regina threw her arms around him in a crushing hug, meeting Emma's eyes over his shoulders.

Emma met her gaze, but quickly looked away.

_Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck, _she thought.

They'd been that close to kissing. _Kissing. _She'd almost played tonsil tennis with Regina, of all people.

This holiday had just become a lot more complicated than she'd anticipated.

* * *

><p><strong>The Art of Avoiding Bears: a Saviour's Guide<strong>

**4. DO practise healing magic in case of emergencies, or in case some careless person forgets the first aid kit.**

**-By Emma Swan**


End file.
